The present invention is in the field of accessories for use with portable handheld video game devices.
Hand-held, portable, battery-powered video game devices have become very common and quite popular. Well-known examples of such devices are the GAME BOY(copyright), GAME BOY COLOR(copyright) and GAME BOY ADVANCE(trademark) devices sold by Nintendo(copyright).
The viewing screen for portable, handheld, battery-powered video game devices is inherently small due to the portable nature of the device. The tiny viewing screen is generally acceptable when the user is taking advantage of the portable nature of the device such as playing with the device in the car, on the road, at the playground, at the park, etc.; however, the inventors of the present invention have recognized that when a television, monitor, or similar large viewing mechanism is available (e.g., when using the device at home or at a house of a friend or relative), it would be desirable to allow the device to communicate with the large viewing mechanism for displaying the video game action from the device on the viewing mechanism so that the user can take advantage of the larger screen of the viewing mechanism for more enjoyable gaming versus the tiny screen of the portable, handheld video game device.
Accordingly, an aspect of the invention involves a method of using a portable handheld video game device with a separate output display. The method includes providing a communication apparatus for a handheld portable video game device including a display; connecting the communication apparatus to the handheld portable video game device and the separate output display; imaging the display of the handheld portable video game device with the communication apparatus to produce an imaged display of the handheld portable video game device; and displaying the imaged display of the handheld portable video game device on the separate output display.
These and further objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art in connection with the drawing and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment set forth below.